This has probably been the most eventful couple of weeks we've had in awhile! First, Devin turned 2 years old on January 24th. We celebrated with a Cheesecake Factory cupcake. Luke and Devin split it, since we didn't have a party. Both of the boys really enjoyed their half of the cupcake :)
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| CHEESE!! |
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| Managed to snap a picture of Justin genuinely smiling - THAT NEVER HAPPENS! |
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| Enjoying Devin's present from mom and dad - The Little Blue Truck in the City |
Devin spends most of his 2-year-old days following Lukas around and copying him. Here is Devin posing with his "tower" that he made while Lukas was also building towers. He's very proud of his creations. The amazingly awesome thing about this copying trend is that Devin has in the last several days potty trained himself!! I went through a couple weeks where I would half-heartedly try to potty train Devin, but there would be a ton of accidents of either poo in pants or pee on the floor. Then one day Devin decided that he was DONE having a diaper on and started to rip them off immediately after he went #2. So, I just let him go pants-less and magically he knew to go potty in the toilet! Now he stops himself while playing to go potty and is VERY excited each time. He does a running dance and whisper yells, "Let's go see it!" "It's a big one!" and "It's diarrhea!!" Thanks to Luke, Devin has learned these awesome phrases and it's even more funny coming out of his sweet, innocent face.
During PT this week we had a breakthrough. Devin actually flexed his foot way back and wiggled his toes in an attempt to pop bubbles with his toes at the appointment. It was exciting and happy. I couldn't have been more proud. We have started to give up hope that he will ever point his toes down, but when I think of all the other outcomes of this injury, I am ecstatic. He only launches off of his left foot while dancing, skipping or jumping - but, big deal is what I think.
Devin has also learned the art of begging. His go-to phrase is "Please mom, can we? Can we?" I am convinced he is a master-manipulator. This boy will hit, kick, punch and all manner of evil things then turn right around and sweetly tell me he is sorry and kisses my boo-boo's better. He is rambunctious to the max.
Lukas has been great with expressing his emotions and keeps popping out funny phrases. He told me today while walking that he "enjoyed crushing the lovely flowers" with his rain boots. He tells me now that he's very sad when I move his toys around - I think he means pissed, because he says it in angry voice.
We took a 2 day trip up to NY over the weekend of 28th-29th and I think the course of our lives has changed. Our prior plans to go career Air Force are gone and in their place are plans to open a gym and for me to pursue more post-secondary education. I have to admit that I was really skeptical when Justin brought up the idea of opening a Crossfit gym, but as I do more detail gathering and research, I become more and more excited. We may end up broke as *bleep*, but then I figure I can commission and I'll be an officer. That's sort of a joke, but who knows!?
Are we crazy? Yes. Are we scared? Hell, no. Even if we end up with zero savings, I now have these two lovely children which I have borne from my body to support me when I am old and gray. Look at those sweet faces! One of those lucky boys might have mama living with them someday! Pity the daughter-in-law.
Anyway, much of our off time is now spent scouring craigslist for gym equipment and doing research. The kids are posing with one of our recent craigslist finds - a squat rack.
For now, the kids and are enjoying some time together while Justin is at drill team training camp for about a month. He left Thursday morning and is settling in well. He even sent me a picture of his microwaved bacon and eggs :)
It's been another week with the kidlets without Justin here. Surprisingly, after an initial adjustment period of the kids just being bad (fighting a lot), it has been pretty easy.
Tuesday was Luke's Valentine's Day party at preschool, but I had already scheduled a PT appointment for Devin and couldn't make it. Because parties are a parent-participation activity, I ended up dropping off Luke's valentines, taking him with me to Bethesda and then picking up the valentines after we got back. It was a pretty relaxed trip aside from the parking nightmare that usually awaits me at the hospital. It may make sense financially to have merged Walter Reed and Bethesda, but it really really sucks for the patients. Walter Reed never had parking and it looks like they've brought that problem with them to Bethesda. I literally feel like I might get stress-induced ulcers from that experience.
The rest of the week was pretty chill. We went to Target and got the new Winnie the Pooh movie - which I didn't think was good in comparison to the original. Devin has finally bonded with his blue blanket. Oh, and I made a sand table out of the broken water table on our deck. This has kept the boys occupied for hours!! 
